Pope Benedicts mortal remains were to lie in repose in the basilica for three days until the late evening of Jan. 4; Pope Francis was scheduled to preside over the funeral Mass Jan. 5. Two thirds of the class (66%) had attended parish religious education programs.The majority of 2023 ordinands had obtained a college (42%) or graduate (16%) degree prior to entering the seminary, with 18% having had some college or trade school study.An array of pre-seminary areas of study among the ordinands have added a whole richness to the priesthood, said Father Gaunt.They begin this study with college degrees in their fields of interest or specialty, so you have a number of men coming in with bachelors degrees in business, finance, chemical engineering, English, education, history, he said.Such diversity also was reflected in the full-time work experience of ordinands prior to entering the seminary, with 21% employed in business, 18% in education, 14% in sales or customer service, and 13% in restaurant or food services.Most of the 2023 ordinands (74%) had no educational debt upon entering the seminary. Benedict XVI placed the theme of God and faith at the center of his pontificate in a continuous search for the face of the Lord Jesus Christ, the text said. The 95-year-old popes body will stay at his private residence, where he passed away Dec. 31, until early Jan. 2, during which time no official visits or public prayers are planned, the press office said in a statement Dec. 31. SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) The Diocese of Scranton announced the death of a former bishop who passed away on Easter Sunday. Jesus Christ is truly the way, the truth and the life and the church, with all its inadequacies, is truly his body., In the end, Pope Benedict wrote, I humbly ask: pray for me, so that the Lord, despite all my sins and inadequacies, may receive me into his eternal dwelling.. Pope Francis continued using the cane instead of a wheelchair as he walked down the red carpet at the Budapest airport and around the presidential Sndor Palace where he met privately for 25 minutes with Hungarian President Katalin Novk and then for 20 minutes with Orbn. Archbishop Gnswein and Msgr. Together, we want to say, Father, into your hands we commend his spirit.'. When he returned to Philadelphia, he served in the archdiocesan Secretariat for Catholic Human Services from 1992 to 2004, first as deputy secretary and then secretary. Bishop Gainer, who has headed the Harrisburg Diocese since 2014, turned 75 last August, the age at which canon requires bishops to submit their resignation to the pope. The first in line outside the basilica was a group of religious sisters from the Philippines, who said they got there at 5:30 a.m.People kept slowly arriving before sunrise, including a group from Duluth, Minnesota, and Superior, Wisconsin, led by Father Richard Kunst of Duluth. Bishops conferences with more than 200 members like the conferences of Italy, Brazil and the United States will elect five members. He led the Catholic Church as pope from 2005-2013, previously served under Pope St. John Paul II for more than 20 years as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and was one of the last living participants at the Second Vatican Council. Walsh comes from one of the most corrupted dioceses in the United States. The liturgical celebration follows the model of a funeral service for a supreme pontiff, broadly speaking, Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office, told reporters Jan. 3. In Italy to this day, the office is called SantUffizio, the Holy Office, and has been one of the most fundamental curial offices for centuries. The 15-county Harrisburg Diocese covers 7,660 square miles and has a Catholic population of about 206,000 out of a total population of just over 2.3 million people. The Conference will be between 8:00 am and 3:00 pm. By Perhaps he may have been educated in what not to do with regard to wayward priests when they are under the care and leadership of a Bishop. Rodgers and Basham, both members of Boy Scout Troop 106 in Mountain Top, were among 33 young people from parishes around the Diocese of Scranton recognized during the Diocese of Scrantons annual Scout Mass on April 23, 2023. He was a theologian of immense depth, a caring pastor and a prayerful servant who unswervingly sought to follow the pathway to which God was calling him, Cardinal McElroy said. Medlin as been the Assistant Vocations Director for the Diocese of Gaylord. Ive worked so hard for these over the past two or three years and just to get them, it is definitely a big accomplishment for me, Michael Grandzol of Saint Jude Parish said. Editor Note: For the complete text of Pope Francis message in English click here. Special accommodations, however, were made for officials of the Roman Curia, Vatican staff and dignitaries who were allowed access from the back of the basilica and offered a place to sit or kneel on either side of the popes body, which was laid out in red vestments on a damask-covered platform. It was widely reported before his death that his burial site would be in the chapel where St. John Paul IIs body rested until his beatification in 2011. And the only official delegations to be present will be from Germany and Italy, the Vatican said. But he assured those reading the document that throughout his life he had seen science offer apparent certainties against the faith only to see them vanish, proving not to be science, but philosophical interpretations only apparently pertaining to science., At the same time, he said, it is in dialogue with the natural sciences that faith too has learned to better understand the limit of the scope of its claims, and thus its specificity.. The Ad Altare Dei program centers on the Sacraments and the program for the Pope Pius XII emblem helps scouts explore vocations (single, married, religious, ordained) and ministries in the Church as calls from God. More and more, the pope said, enthusiasm for building a peaceful and stable community of nations seems to be cooling, as zones of influence are marked out, differences accentuated, nationalism is on the rise and ever harsher judgments and language are used in confronting others.. While we grieve that he is no longer with us here, I join Catholics everywhere in offering my profound gratitude to the Lord for the gift of Pope Benedict XVI and his ministry, said Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. I pray that our land remains a land of faith, he wrote before pleading with his fellow Germans to let nothing draw them from the faith. While the funeral was based on the model of a papal funeral, two key elements normally part of a papal funeral following the farewell prayer were missing: there were no prayers offered by representatives of the Diocese of Rome and of the Eastern Catholic churches, since those prayers are specific to the death of a reigning pope, who is bishop of the Diocese of Rome and is in communion with the leaders of the Eastern-rite churches. June 17, 2021: Bishop to ordain Mark DeCelles to the Priesthood on As he raised his hands to convey the amount of rain that poured down on the more than 1 million young people gathered for Mass that day, a Paraguayan woman from across the aisle recognized the story and interjected in Spanish I was there, too! We are the church, so we wanted to gather with the church, here in person, for this moment, she told CNS. SCRANTON Former Bishop James C. Timlin, the former bishop of the Scranton Diocese who was ensarled in the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal, died Sunday at 95. Although the burial was private, images supplied by Vatican Media showed Cardinal Re leading prayers and blessing the remains during the burial rite attended by a small number of senior cardinals, the retired popes closest aides and others. The Retreat of Catholicism, Bishop Walsh Talks To A Newspaper But Not His Flock, Diocese Promotes (Anti-)Catholic Relief Services, The Latest Battle for the Traditional Latin Mass. We are very proud to have you with us and most especially to have you all engaged in the good work that you do on behalf of our church and on behalf of our society and our world. The gift of vocation is like a divine seed that springs up in the soil of our existence, opens our hearts to God and to others, so that we can share with them the treasure we ourselves have found, the pope said. No to rearmament! In addition to containing his biography, the legal document, written in Latin, also attested to his death and burial. That statistic is basically on par with one showing that fully one quarter of all Catholics in this country are foreign born, explained Father Gaunt.While the majority (89%) of ordinands were not homeschooled, the data indicated the 11% who were educated at home (for an average of 8 years, among the 2023 class) could rise to an estimated 13% by 2028. With Christs love even that which seems wearisome and unsuccessful can appear under another light, he said April 23. In a decision formalized April 17, the Holy Father approved the extension of participation in the synodal assembly to non-bishops priests, deacons, consecrated men and women, lay men and women, the synod office said in a statement April 26. You have the ability to impart the very love and mercy of God to people who are in need. The students also created personalized birthday cards to go in the bags.. SCRANTON Former Bishop James C. Timlin, the former bishop of the Scranton Diocese who was ensarled in the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal, died The prayers included petitions for Pope Emeritus Benedict, who has fallen asleep in the Lord: may the eternal Shepherd receive him into his kingdom of light and peace, followed by a prayer for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, and for all the pastors of the church: may they proclaim fearlessly, in word and deed, Christs victory over evil and death.. Many of these scandals involve the leadership, or lack thereof, He is an exemplary priest who has served his hometown faithfully for many years with great wisdom, intelligence and apostolic zeal for the good of souls, the prelate said in a statement. The Diocese of Scranton continues to monitor the rapidly evolving health situation regarding the The Diocese of Scranton has been rocked by a series of sexual abuse scandals among its clergy. The true nature and richness of each of those vocations, he said, is revealed and makes sense only in relation to the others within the community of the church. Were still not sure whats an ordinary response, and what is more pandemic-related. Among 2023s ordinands, the elementary school (32%) and high school (26%) years were the peak periods for them in first considering a vocation, followed by the college years (19%). Like Fr. Bryan Medlin, who is accused of inappropriate text messaging to minors. Novk, welcoming Pope Francis to the meeting with government and civic representatives, told him Hungarians expected to receive encouragement from him in their quest to help make Europe more peaceful, more democratic and stronger.. He was declared blessed May 1, 2011. Before the funeral, the casket will be carried into St. Peters Square and the faithful will be asked to join the recitation of the rosary before Mass. Some differences can be seen in some of the prayers and the readings, Bruni said. SCRANTON For Sean Rodgers, scouting is much more than just spending time outdoors. Since this was the first time in four years that the Scout Mass has been celebrated, four individuals were also presented with the Saint George Emblem, which honors a member of the laity or clergy, scout or non-scout alike, who have made significant and outstanding contributions to the spiritual development of Catholic youths through scouting. The text, released in Latin and Italian shortly before the popes funeral Mass Jan. 5, highlighted his work as a theologian, his ecumenical outreach, his relations with the Jewish community and his efforts to deal with the clerical sexual abuse scandal. A devoted student of the Word of God and steeped in the Churchs liturgical and theological tradition, he was able to engage the modern world with intellectual clarity and pastoral charity, Bishop Burbidge said. Over the past 30 years, she told him, Hungarian Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants have joined forces in the ecumenism of the preservation of Christian values, specifically regarding marriage, family life and abortion. I think it truly symbolically closes the earthly symbiosis of the two popes the Polish and German pontiff, added Yago de la Cierva, professor at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome. VATICAN CITY (CNS) It is intolerable that conflict and wars are still raging in Ukraine and other parts of the world, Pope Francis said on World Peace Day. Jesus appears beside the two disciples and prompts them to tell him what has happened and made them sad. Holding fast to the Lords last words and to the witness of his entire life, we too, as an ecclesial community, want to follow in his steps and to commend our brother into the hands of the Father, he said of Pope Benedict. That day changed my life and left a mark that has endured to the present day, the pope wrote. Well tell you in five years.. He lived eucharistically. The Bible readings at the Mass were in Spanish, English and Italian, and the prayers of the faithful at the Mass were recited in German, French, Arabic, Portuguese and Italian. Past synods have included women as non-voting auditors, a group that included many women. Other allegations of sexual misconduct have also sprung up under the leadership of Bishop Bambera, whose lack of leadership on the issue had dubbed him by some as Bishop Bambi. Someone asked him what he thought about a papal encyclical, and with a smile on his face he answered that he didnt need to give an opinion because he recognized himself in many texts of John Paul II.. The Lord is happy whenever we open ourselves to him, he said. Three outstanding Catholic Speakers have been scheduled. Even if their characters seemed a world away, Pope Benedict was similar to St. John Paul in many aspects. VATICAN CITY (CNS) Pope Benedict XVI spread and testified to the Gospel his entire life, Pope Francis told tens of thousands of people gathered Jan. 5 for his predecessors funeral Mass. While posing for photos with their scarves extended, the pair fought back their smiles, and Devlin explained why: I know its a funeral, but Im just so happy to be here., VATICAN CITY (CNS) The Jan. 5 funeral Mass for Pope Benedict XVI will be a papal funeral with a few changes to fit with the fact that he was not the reigning pope and has not left behind a sede vacante.. The Lords call is grace, complete gift and at the same time a commitment to bring the Gospel to others, the pope wrote in his message for the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, which was to be marked April 30 in most dioceses. Devine says many of the students recognize there are people in their own community who do not have enough money for regular meals, never mind a special birthday celebration. When we read his writings, or heard him preach, or saw him celebrate the Mass, we really saw a man that cares for his sheep and gives us an example of how to care for ours, he said.
